New Journey

"Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore."  André Gide

For many years, I was certain about what my career path was to be.  I have grown up in the community where I was raised and educated.  My husband and I have have remained here to grow our careers as educators, and to raise our three amazing children.  Surrounded by what we know and supported by friends and family, we have felt safe and secure.  Life has been extremely good to us and we have been very happy.  It has been comfortable to keep the shore in our sights and we have not felt the need to set sail.  I, however, have always been a starry eyed dreamer with big plans to create a system where education really is the great equalizer for children.  Here is the problem- I was so busy feeling comfortable and content that I did not even realize that I could be dreaming even bigger.   This is where my new journey begins.

In 2018, I was blessed with the opportunity to take the Assistant Regional Superintendent job in ROE 17.  I entered an unbelievably positive work environment and immediately felt valued and appreciated by everyone I encountered.  I was in awe of this job that had so much autonomy and allowed me to do what I love most- support educators.  I joined a rock-star team and found myself loving every day that I spent working with them to support our hard working educators.  This same year, I was invited by friends at FIRST Education Resources to join a team of associates that they were building for a new endeavor- Challenging Learning USA.  I was thrilled, especially because I already had great familiarity and respect for all of the work that Challenging Learning has done and what they stand for.  I also figured I would receive valuable training that would enhance my work in the region.

What I did not expect was the complete hijacking of my life that would occur as I delved deeper into their work and forged true friendships with them as we chatted for hours about our beliefs, our dreams, and our journeys.  I immediately connected with Jill Nottingham and Martin Renton and felt like I  finally had some clarity about what it is that we need to be doing in education and about how my strengths and passions fit into the work.  Fast forward six months to my first opportunity to engage with James Nottingham when he was in town for a conference.  He asked for my thoughts and opinions and truly listened to and cared about my answers.  I spent more time with all three of them, learning about their work with schools through their Challenging Learning Process (CLP).  At that point I was completely intrigued and excited at the same time as I began to ponder the possibilities for American schools in making the significant shifts necessary to meet the rapidly changing needs of ALL students.

Over the next few months, I met more of the Challenging Learning team and found each and every one of them to be clearly focused on the same vision and full of hope and passion for what is possible in schools.  I was invited on James's tour with Carol Dweck and I visited schools changed by the process where I engaged in dialogue with educators who have been a part of the process and the change.  The transformations were unbelievable and the educators were extremely grateful for and passionate about the work.  I asked no less than 100,000 questions as I learned about this fully supported continuous improvement process that touches on all aspects of a learning community and is artfully designed with an infrastructure and progress monitoring system ensuring nothing less than success and sustainable results.  It works- and it is a process that  truly SUPPORTS educators.  I decided that we must have this in schools in the United States, and James, Jill and Martin in turn decided that I could be a useful addition to their team in order to help with this exciting endeavor.

This is a journey I would have never, in a million years, known to dream about.  I still have to pinch myself to be sure that I am not, in fact, dreaming.  This new journey will allow me opportunities to do so much thrilling and fulfilling work including supporting schools not only in the US, but around the world, writing, researching, and presenting.  This wouldn't be possible without everyone along the way, including my family and friends, who have supported me as I have garnered the courage to move away from the shore and the comfort of what is known.  Over the last few months, the unwavering faith that the CL team has placed in me and in my abilities have helped me to regain a confidence in myself that had been lost, and I have allowed my starry-eyed-dreamer-self to again dream big.  Not only are they like family to me, but they also know and care about my family, allowing me to be comfortable in making this jump with the knowledge that we will always do what is best for my family.  They are incredibly kind, generous, hard working, and laser focused on their vision, making it very easy to be "all in".  I am so thankful to James, Jill and Martin for all that they done for me, personally and professionally and I am honored and excited by the prospect of working with them for the remainder of my career.

Only the perfect opportunity could possibly take me away from what I have in my current position.  This chance to be a member of the Challenging Learning team as we support educators the world over to provide the very best for all children, while continuing my connection with ROE 17 is truly perfect and a dream come true.  As someone I know and respect likes to say: "Easy is boring; challenge is interesting."  Looking forward to this challenge!!